CHAPTER SIXTEEN
I return to the senate box, overlooking the sands of the arena.
The first fights have started, two figures fighting below in a beautiful ballet of skill and precision, magic and violence.
Cesca is one of the gladiators down there, whirling around a much larger opponent who seems to be able to float shields around him in an ever-shifting web of protection.
It's a game of cat and mouse as Cesca seeks an opening and her opponent tries to get close enough to crush her without being taken down by her ability to summon sparks of lightning along the blade she carries.
Ordinarily, Cesca is a fan favorite, a gladiator who revels in the attention she attracts and who has thrived in these safer games, knowing that no one is truly going to call for her death should she lose.
By this point in the bout, the crowd should be calling her name and should be on the edges of their seats with excitement.
Instead, they're booing, and it takes me a second to work out why: there's only one bout the crowd is interested in seeing today, and it isn't this one.
Cesca seems to sense it, too, because she picks that moment to thrust her blade through her opponent's defenses, sending him twitching to the ground with the shock of her lightning.
It's obvious she could have done it any time she wanted, but she was trying to draw the bout out to be more entertaining for the crowd.
The moment it became clear they weren't interested, she finished the fight.
She stands over her opponent, gives a perfunctory bow in the direction of the senate box, and stalks from the sands in obvious annoyance.
There probably won’t even be any nobles waiting for her in the receiving rooms. They all seem to be in their boxes, looking out, waiting for the main event of the day.
The former imperial box is almost empty, by contrast, with only myself and Marcus within.
Rowan has stayed true to his principles by refusing to attend the games.
The other senators… I get the feeling many of them are afraid, staying away because they assume Selene is going to choose this moment to mount some kind of attack.
They don’t want to make themselves targets.
That thought makes me shudder, because I’m sure she’s planning something. I just don’t know what.
“We need to give the people what they want,” Marcus says, and stands, approaching the front of the box. He stays there for a moment, letting the people see him, letting their attention settle on him before he speaks.
“Citizens of Aetheria! The time has come for our main bout of the day!”
The roar that answers him is almost deafening. It’s obvious the crowd knows what’s coming next.
"This will be a special bout without the protections that are normal for the games today.
It's about designed to punish a traitor to Aetheria, a vicious supporter of the former empire!
" Marcus is clearly trying to turn the crowd against Selene.
"On this side of the sands, I give you Selene Ravenscroft! "
Some of the crowd boo, the way Marcus obviously intends, but plenty cheer.
I don't know if they're cheering for her or just for the spectacle that's going to follow.
I'm not sure it matters, as the gates at one side of the Colosseum open and Selene steps out onto the sands.
I half expect her to simply ignore the cheering of the crowd, but instead, she salutes them with her curved blade, moving out to a spot in the middle of the Colosseum where the people can get the best view of her.
She turns in a slow circle, acknowledging even the ones booing her, as if she's some favored gladiator and not someone being sent to her death.
Marcus is clearly determined to regain control of the situation. "And facing her, we have a true favorite of the city's fighting scene, a veteran of the Colosseum, the man who slew a deadly lizard on these very sands. I give you Sorrel!"
Sorrel comes out, twirling his metal staff like a baton, making sure it catches the light with every turn.
People cheer him, and there are no boos mixed in with those cheers.
It’s clear the crowd know he’s meant to be the hero of this event, the brave gladiator sent in to slay the villain Selene has been depicted as by Marcus.
Sorrel walks out onto the sands, takes a sweeping bow, and then looks to the imperial box expectantly.
For a moment or two, tension hangs in the air, then Marcus chops his hand down sharply.
“Begin!” Marcus calls out.
Sorrel and Selene start to circle one another carefully.
Sorrel rushes in, but pulls out of the charge with impossible swiftness as Selene raises her blade.
He's clearly testing her responses, trying to work out the patterns of her movements.
She sends a bolt of violet energy his way, obviously able to do that much, even with the dampener around her wrist. Sorrel sways aside from it, swinging his staff low, then high, so that Selene is forced to give ground.
The crowd are cheering, in a way they didn’t for Cesca’s match. They’re leaning forward, watching every swing of the weapons, every precise burst of magic with total absorption, clearly understanding that any one of these attacks might prove fatal.
Selene staggers as Sorrel’s staff connects with her, falling but then rolling to her feet in time to parry the next attack. A dart of power strikes Sorrel’s armor, only to dissipate thanks to the runes embedded in it.
“Blood! Blood!” the crowd starts to chant, as the two continue to fight.
It's a real contrast in styles. Sorrel is fast and wild, his telekinesis allowing him to change direction almost from moment to moment, making his attacks unpredictable and hard to parry. Selene moves surprisingly well, though, able to use footwork and her blade to defend herself, while the empty rear hand that seemed like a liability before is actually an asset. She throws darts of energy, each a long way from the power she would be able to bring to bear before, but still dangerous in their precise probing of Sorrel’s defenses.
Sorrel seems to be getting frustrated. It's clear he thought this was going to be an easy fight, that his skills as a fighter would overcome Selene’s magic swiftly.
He swings his staff at her, and now she uses a fraction of magic to deflect it.
Despite the limitations on her power, Selene still has all the knowledge she's built up in a long life and the skills to apply her magic in many different ways.
She uses a flicker of illusion now, creating a burst of light Sorrel needs to react to in case it's some more deadly threat. It means her blade can lick out to score a simple cut across his arm. Blood drips to the sand for the first time in the bout, and the crowd roars its approval.
Sorrel tries to make her pay for the attack with a cascade of blows that seem to come from every angle as he pushes himself to the limits.
It's clear he's trying to overwhelm Selene’s defenses, forcing her to give ground, deflecting some of the attacks with small shields of power and others with her blade. He lands another glancing blow, sending Selene to the ground, but she rolls away before he can land the attack that would finish her. Sand sprays into the air instead as Sorrel’s staff impacts the ground, and momentarily, both fighters are obscured from view.
When I can see them again, Selene is standing again, but slightly off balance, her head open for a blow that might kill her. Sorrel seems to notice the opportunity in the same instant, bringing his staff around with all the force of his telekinesis behind it.
Too late, I see him realize that it's a trick as Selene ducks. Even with Sorrel’s power, he can't stop this attack because he's put that power behind the blow. It means his staff sails over her head as Selene reaches up and touches one of the un-armored areas of Sorrel’s skin, just below the shoulder of his right arm.
There's a flare of violet power, and Sorrel cries out, dropping his staff involuntarily.
Selene kicks it away, and even as Sorrel tries to scramble back, she sends a small dart of power into the flesh just above his knee.
It brings him stumbling to the floor, and Selene kicks him onto his back, setting the tip of her blade to his throat.
But she doesn't finish him. Instead, she looks up at the former imperial box expectantly, waiting as so many gladiators have in the past, for those within to pass judgment on their foes.
“This bout is at an end!” I call out, rushing to the front of the box. It's the only thing I can do to save Sorrel’s life. “Selene Ravenscroft is the winner.”
The crowd goes wild for her, but she still stands there a moment longer, making me wonder if she might kill Sorrel anyway.
If she does that, now that the bout is ended, I have no doubt Marcus will see her executed.
I can feel my heart beating faster at the prospect of her doing it, and I'm sure she's looking right into my eyes, drawing out this moment deliberately, making me feel that fear.
Then Selene steps back and raises her blade in a fresh salute to the crowd. She's victorious, and people aren't booing her now. They're cheering her as the winner in the first real gladiatorial battle they've seen in a long time.
What have we done? We've given the former arch magistrate a chance to gain support, with Marcus and Rowan both assuming that she'd be killed when it's now clear her skills are more than enough to cope even with having a dampener around her wrist. Selene walks from the sands even as healers rush on to carry Sorrel back into the preparation areas below.
Selene turns back, giving one last bow to the crowd before handing her weapons to a guard and heading below.
She’s made her point: she won’t be so easy to kill, and she allowed herself to be taken for a reason.
She's realized that here in the arena, she can build support.
If she survives her seasons in the arena, Selene will be free, absolved of her crimes and with a substantial fan base behind her.
It will be everything she needs to take power within the city again.